Human on purpose

“He understands our humanity, for as a Man, our magnificent King-Priest was tempted in every way just as we are and conquered sin. Hebrews 4:15 TPT

 “Instead, He emptied himself of His outward glory by reducing Himself to the form of a lowly servant. He became human! He humbled himself and became vulnerable, choosing to be revealed as a man and was obedient.” Philippians 7-8 TPT.

Too sensitive. Too Logical. Distant. Too Critical. Can you relate to any of these? Early on in my life, the word “sensitive” was seen as “negative” and spoken at me like a Judge telling me I did something wrong. Because I was “too emotional,” I was teased by people that I cared about and people who were supposed to care about me. This is where I learned to disconnect from myself. My mind then made sense of this “bad” thing (my sensitivity) as being “unacceptable” and that there must be something wrong with me. My response was then to shut down, cut off and change that emotional part of me. I was terrified of “not belonging” by being different. I then resorted to doing things that would get me accepted and belong. This would also help me avoid the pain of not being cared for, being loved and being accepted for the way I was. I also spent much of my life staying busy and achieving things by focusing on doing for others, being really critical, and often relying on my logical brain.

Belonging and acceptance is a biological design. All of us have this innate desire.

Often, in this world, our feelings and emotions are not valued. But God made us this way on purpose, for a purpose. In his book “The Body Keeps the Score,” Dr. Van Der Kolk shares that emotions serve a fundamental purpose to initiate action and movement, thus helping us get back to a place of safety and equilibrium. In other words, avoiding or escaping a threat is good for survival, but prolonged, like negative and traumatic un-processed experiences, keep us stuck in survival mode with no connection to others.

Did you know that God made us as human beings with emotions?  He chose on purpose to make us this way. When we cannot be our true vulnerable selves, what often happens, out of this survival or terrified state, is judgment and criticism, either at ourselves or others. Within myself, and even within the church, I have experienced and seen so much striving (to earn acceptance) by serving or promoting achievement messages that people need to change the way they are. Do you know that God doesn’t ask us to do that? He asks us to come to Him, knowing He already accepts us and loves us unconditionally. The challenge then is to believe what He has already said about us, that we are inherently good, and need to focus on those things. God did not mess up when He created you as a human being and designed you uniquely as you are. See Jeremiah 1:5 and Psalm 139:14.

We could choose to focus on our “sins” (what is wrong with us) or blame Adam and Eve, but we would be missing out on the most important part of how God designed us: Goodness and Uniqueness as humans, with our physical bodies and emotions. Understanding this is how we can be connected to Him in such an intimate and beautiful way. When we are cut off from our emotions and sensations in the body (because we are constantly in survival mode), we are cut off from a huge part of ourselves, others, and God. God sent Jesus as a human, so being a Christian literally means accepting our humanity. This means not trying to be God or do His work for Him. It means surrendering to all the parts of our story and how He made us.

My challenge for all of us today is this: Can you accept all that you are today? Or maybe you need to do that for someone else you have been subconsciously judging? Permission to start with what you are feeling now or from the sensations in your body (if emotions are hard to describe). Practice sitting with it for a moment. What might this part of you be saying? Remind yourself that God made you this way so you could connect to His heart. What is He saying to you? Is He telling you to take a step and ask for help or share your heart with someone (even though it is scary)? When you accept yourself, you can ACCEPT OTHERS AS THEY ARE and not try to change them. THIS IS WHAT GOD DOES FOR US TOO. I encourage you, friend, whatever you hear, to take that step – you are worth it!